Concerns about illness transmission rising among employees: survey
In the wake of office-return mandates, employers across Australia are being urged to be more conscious of hygiene practices in the workplace amid emerging concerns of illness transmission among employees.
Findings from office supplies business COS found that 46% of employees are worried about catching an illness at work.
Amie Lyone, co-CEO of COS, attributed the findings to heightened awareness of hygiene and illness post-pandemic.
"It really goes to show you that even though the pandemic is over as a society, hygiene practices and safety connected to that remain at the forefront of our minds, so we have to be conscious of that still," she said.
According to Lyone, while organisations have been very aware about hygiene practices at work, some of them have not remained consistent post-pandemic.
"I've been to a couple of different shopping centres and office buildings in the last few months, and I've noticed on several occasions that while we might still have the hand sanitiser station there, it's empty," she said.
"As employers, we need to be conscious of [the fact] it still exists and what is the symbolism to make sure that we're saying, 'We're conscious of that for you.’"
Employers also need to engage with their employees regarding the safety of their workplace.
"I think that if we are engaging employees in the conversation and we are coming from a place of how we can make it a safe place to work, we've got to bring our employees on the journey. It starts with those conversations," she said.
Concerns over illness transmission among employees come as more organisations across the country are introducing office-return mandates.
Research from Robert Half revealed that there is a "domino effect" when it comes to office-return mandates in Australia, where employers admit that their policies are being influenced by other firms.
To further complicate the situation, COS also found that the expectation to work while sick has risen from 32% to 46% in the past two years.
This pressure to be onsite despite being unwell can also be addressed by communication and education, according to Lyone.
"Are we talking about that? Are employers aware that that is the perception of employees?" Lyone said. "Perhaps our policies around sick leave and our approach to sick leave need to be addressed."
Lyone said the pandemic opened up the possibility of working from home in many organisations, which are now trying to navigate a post-pandemic environment.
"Now that so many industries and environments have had working from home, there is confusion post-pandemic as to what that should look like for the future," she said.
Lyone offered four suggestions for HR leaders to effectively help manage anxiety and ensure a safe return to workplaces this year.
"The first I would say is lead with empathy. I think we need to acknowledge employee concerns and work with them on proactive solutions for a win-win as we move into this new era of working," she said.
The second is maintaining transparency, according to Lyone.
"I think we need to be open and honest about how we're running businesses, but we want to do what's best for our staff and their well-being at the same time.”
The third and fourth advice is to encourage open dialogue at work, and then take action on the feedback received.
"That doesn't necessarily mean what the employee says is what we need to do, but we need to be able to talk to come to a mutual agreement on it," she said.
Lyone also stressed the importance of employee assistance programmes (EAPs).
"When it comes to leading with empathy in the post-pandemic world, there are available services like that which we could tap into that may help our employees during this transition," she said.
"Whilst we're all working on what we're able to do when it comes to hygiene practices, the environment they work in, there might be other outside opportunities like EAP services that could support people in their transition back to the office."
